healing, which relied on supernatural guidance or altered states of
consciousness, classic Chinese medicine relies on ordinary human sensory
awareness. Its fundamental assertion, similar to the kindred philosophical
systems of Confucianism and Taoism, is that contemplation and reflection
on sensory perceptions and ordinary appearances are sufficient to under-
stand the human condition, including health and illness. This assertion is
fundamentally different from the western biomedical viewpoint, which gives
privileged status to objective technology and quantitative measurement.
The Chinese approach to understanding the human body is unique. It is
based on a highly sophisticated set of practices designed to cure illness and
to maintain health and well-being.^6 Ji is reputed to have said:^7
The superior physician helps before the early budding of disease.
These practices also represent an energetic intervention designed to re-
establish harmony and equilibrium for each patient according to the holistic
principle.
Whenever the practitioner uses acupuncture or herbal medicine, prescribes
a set of exercises or proposes a new diet, his or her activities are all considered
to be mutually interdependent and necessary to restore (or maintain) health.
Acupuncture and CHM are considered as separate therapies in this
chapter but, in the West, it is common practice to treat patients using a
combination approach. This differs somewhat to how Chinese medicine is
practised in China where doctors tend to specialise in acupuncture, herbal
medicine or tuina massage. This difference is probably due to the fact that
there are far more practitioners in China than in the West.
TCM is as much a proactive process as a reactive one – that is to say, the
principles of TCM may be applied to daily life to stimulate better health
without the presence of an illness to initiate it.
Below is a brief description of the concepts that are fundamental to an
understanding of how Chinese medicine is used:
- Yin and yang
- The five phases
- The five substances
- The organs
- The meridians or channels.
Although they are presented in discrete sections, they are all interlinked,
like a jigsaw puzzle. In isolation each piece of the puzzle (concept) has little
significance.
Yin and yang
According to Emperor Fu His, who lived in the Yellow River area of China,
approximately 8000 years ago, the world and all life within it are made up
of paired opposites, each giving meaning to the other. They may be viewed
Traditional Chinese medicine | 121